A Year Overdue
by Romania Black
Summary: A Short tale of what Happened to William Turner's mother and how he got out to sea before the beginning of Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. Please Read, Review, and most importantly, Enjoy the story!


"A Year Overdue"  
  
By Romania Black  
  
For those who have wondered (as I have) about the passing of Mrs. Turner and the fate of Will Turner before POTC: CotBP, here is the story the way I think it happened. This is a stupid prologue I know, but hey, it could be worse....hmmmm.....  
  
~Romania Black~  
  
P.S. I own nothing of POTC...or the owners...*weeps*  
  
A Year Overdue  
  
The crumpled letter felt damp in her hands, the ink smudged in certain areas. She could smell the distinct odor of saltwater and gun powder that seemed to flood the parchment. Never the less, the maid unfolded the note and read it silently to herself.  
  
Dear Abigail,  
  
I knew the day would come when my duties would take away my time with the ones I truly love, you, fairest Abigail. How is Little Will? I suspect he's eight by now, I wish I could see his face, and yours.... It is so cramped in this corner I'm sitting in. Apparently there has been uproar here onboard the ship, and I'm to blame.  
  
*What? It's Master Bill's fault? * The idea reeled in the maiden's mind, her thoughts overcome with doubt. *Bill never did anything' at home unnecessary. * She focused back upon the letter.  
  
This is the end, sad to say, my time is drawing close. I've found one of the crew's birds and stolen it. I tied another note with this one to tell the one who finds it to deliver it to you, Abby. The crewmember said it was one of them pigeons that could carry letters and packages. Hope he's right. I'll miss you Abby, I really will.  
  
*Good God, he's going to die! * The maid thought frantically. *This is his death letter! *  
  
With the fondest of Love,  
William Turner  
  
P.S. Give the package included to little Will, since his Birthday present from me is a year overdue.  
  
The maid's hands were trembling; the shock of it all was astronomical. She couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't run her honey skinned fingers through her coarse ebony hair as she usually did when something bad was amiss.  
  
"Ellisia?" A voice called from the abyss around the maid. She glanced up from the letter, trying to hide any indication that something bad was going on.  
  
"Yes, muh lady?" Ellisia's voice found itself and vacated louder than usual, causing Ellisia to swoon backwards out of surprise.  
  
"What does the letter say, Ellisia?" The voice had come from a woman lying in a bed in front of the maid. The bed sheets seemed to swallow the middle aged woman and the pillows that surrounded her seemed to enclose her into a castle of isolation; they were so huge in size.  
  
You would not believe this woman was in her mid-thirties. The woman was tiny and thin. Oh, so thin. She was pale, wisps of brown hair falling in her face, the rest tied up in a poorly done bun, for there were hairs protruding all around it. You could see her bones through the veil of skin that was so thin, so white, and so fleshy that it would have seemed possible to simply rip it off. Her smile had purple lips that were thin and cracked, eyes that were a shade of pale sea green, traumatized and misty, and a heart shaped face that seemed ready to fall apart.  
  
"Well?" The woman asked again in a raspy voice. Ellisia casually laid the letter face down upon the table behind her.  
  
"Bill's going to be late again," The maid lied. "He says that the merchant vessels picked up double what they had last time!"  
  
"Oh!" The woman smiled. "As long as I see him soon." Her voice was faint and distant, trailing off into nowhere.  
  
The maid grimaced. She wished she could tell Abigail the truth, she wished so much. Looking at the limp and frail body of the Mistress was hard enough, but telling her that her only love, the father of her only son...the man she seemed to talk about constantly, always praying he'd come home safely...telling her he was dead?  
  
*She'd never make it alone. * Ellisia thought, frowning.  
  
"What's wrong, old friend?" Abigail's voice was like melting sugar, sweet, but fading and seeming to become more inaudible. Ellisia looked up, forgetting that she had frowned.  
  
"Sorry, Muh lady, but this note says that there was a package included. Where is it?" This was a good enough lie. Ellisia had known where it was. She had seen her daughter, Catherine, pick it up on the steps this morning along with the rest of the mail.  
  
"I think that I saw your daughter run up here with it," Abigail paused, thinking pensively. "Oh! She didn't drop it off here with the letter! Could you call her up here with it?"  
Ellisia paused, looking back at the letter, wondering if it was worth taking with her. The fear of Abigail getting a hold of it was too risky. Grabbing the letter and stuffing it in the pocket of her apron, the maid headed out the door.  
  
"I'll put this in the letter drawer," Ellisia called out heading downstairs to fetch Catherine. The letter drawer was the infamous place where Abigail had been storing her letters from Bill for the last eight years.  
  
Ellisia found Catherine in the main room playing with a paper doll, the box still at her side.  
  
"Catherine!" The maid called out from the banister. The little girl gazed up at her mother and ran up the stairs to meet her, clutching the box as if it were a prized possession.  
  
"Mum?" The little girl asked shyly, brushing the black curls from her face with her free hand.  
  
"Mrs. Turner needs to see that package sweetie," Ellisia motioned the little girl to follow her.  
  
"Oh, okay, I thought so," Catherine smiled, trailing her mother up the stairway.  
  
Thoughts shot through Ellisia's mind so fast that she forgot where she was at that second.  
  
She remembered Dr. Shayfordshire's visit, the long hours of waiting up all night while the doctor diagnosed Abigail. He had concluded that she was a hopeless case of a rare disease. If she could remember better, she would have recalled the name, but alas; she was not the remembering type and the name was far too extravagant for her memory anyways. However, it mattered not. The disease would 'eat her alive', as the doctor said, and was incurable. So it was all in vain.  
  
"Hello, Miss Turner!" The cheerful voice of Catherine rang out. Ellisia had forgotten her place and nearly missed the doorway.  
  
Abigail smiled a weak and exhausted smile and waved her thin hand out to Catherine.  
  
"Let me see it, Collins, dear." This was the typical nickname that Abigail had given Catherine, seeing as how that was her last name and all. Ellisia didn't mind the nickname, in fact thought of it highly, as if it were a sign of equality. Even though they were both maids to the house of Abigail and her family, Abigail never missed out on the chance to treat them as equal humans.  
  
"Here ya go, Ma'am," Catherine said hesitantly, handing the package over with care, afraid that the weight of it would shatter her hand. You could see the heaviness of the package, because Abigail had to quickly tuck the gift into the bed with her, so as to not drop it.  
  
Abigail stroked the gift, as if it was all that was left of her dearest husband.  
  
*If only you knew how true you are, * thought Ellisia, sighing heavily.  
  
"Go and get Will for me, please," Abigail told Catherine. The little girl nodded her head slowly and strode out of the room. The thumping of the stairs was loud, but then slowly died away, like the breeze floating through a room with its window open wide.  
  
"She'll be right back, I believe." The maiden shifted her apron and looked encouragingly at Abigail. She was frowning.  
  
"It's okay, I'm in no rush. After all, it won't be long now..." Her voice trailed off. It was no longer sugary, but more like bitter honey, ruined but not hateful.  
  
"What, muh lady?" Ellisia managed to croak out through her anguish and surprise.  
  
"You know what the doctor said, Ellisia. I don't have much longer, it will come quickly I hope." Her voice was so distant, so unchangeably hopeless.  
  
*She wasn't losing the strength to live. She was losing the will to live. * The maid thought terrified.  
  
"Don't say that!" Ellisia cried out. But it was impossible to reach her, she was lost in thought, her eyes staring straight forward in a trance.  
  
"I'm leaving the house to you, Ellisia." The sentence was clear and simple.  
  
The maid jerked her head around to face Abigail. "What?!?"  
  
"Your family has been loyal to the Andrew's for so long, and now that the Andrew's resident is about to lose the last of its family, it is only fitting that you and Catherine watch over it." Her voice never missed a beat and was cool and level, despite the pain that twisted her face.  
  
"But now Miss Turner," The maid tried to argue.  
  
"You were there for my wedding to Bill, you were there when I received the letter that my brother, Reginald, had died; you were there for me when I seemed most alone. So why does this shock you?" Abigail coughed loudly and shifted in her bed.  
  
"You were there when Catherine was born. You tried your hardest to convince Mr. Andrews to not sell off Charlie--" Ellisia cut herself off. The memory of Charlie, her husband, being sold and sent away was too much to bear speaking of.  
  
Abigail smiled weakly. "I'm sorry, but I've already set things in order. There is nothing you can do about it."  
  
"I suppose that means it's in the Will, so to speak," The maid said, realizing the trueness of Mrs. Turner's statement.  
  
"Yes," Abigail said slowly. "Yes it is."  
  
"Mum, you called?" A voice came from the doorway.  
  
Will Turner was an average eight-year-old, with dark brown hair and deep brown eyes that were bright and happy most of the time. He looked just like Bill Turner in every way.  
  
"Will!" Abigail's voice was going hoarse. She motioned him to join her, her eyes growing mistier. "Your father gave you a gift!" She held out the package merrily, setting it in his open hands. Her transformation in character was astounding.  
  
Will opened the package swiftly, the damp paper coming off with ease. Eagerness spread across his face as he held up the small model ship that was unveiled.  
  
"Wow, mum! Look at this!" Will said in a delighted tone. Abigail smiled weakly.  
  
"It's part of your birthday present. Your dad said he was sorry it was a year overdue," Ellisia gathered the strength to say.  
  
"Wow! Look at this too!" Will held up the second part of the gift, this one an odd relic. The shape of a skull was imprinted upon it, with some other carvings. The gold gleamed in the sunlight. Will gazed at it in awe.  
  
"A fair gift," Abigail said in a strained voice. "A beauty worth keeping hold of."  
  
"Yeah, mum!" Will cried happily, still staring at the medallion.  
  
"Go and play now!" Abigail told him, pointing a long finger at the door. "Leave your sick mum to rest."  
  
These words seemed to slap Will right in the face.  
  
"You're not getting worse are you?" He asked in uncertainty, his face becoming void of any happiness.  
  
"I'm fine," Abigail said, leaning towards him. "I'm fine." With that she kissed his forehead softly. "Love you, dear."  
  
"Love you too, mum." Will exited the room with a half sad, half anxious look upon his face, as one who had lost a dear possession while winning the lottery would feel. He left the room as Catherine trailed behind him.  
  
Abigail turned to the maid.  
  
"Keep these doors open to anyone bearing relation to the Andrew's or Turner's, understand?" Her voice was firm, but sweet.  
  
"Yes, muh lady," Ellisia said quietly, being polite.  
  
Abigail stared at the ceiling for a moment, then back at the maid.  
  
"Send my son with Captain Samuel Rodderick tomorrow. He's heading out to sea on one of the merchant ships that my husband talked about. I know Samuel from my brother Reginald, and he knows my family in turn. See that the boy goes out to sea with him."  
  
"Why so, Abigail?" Ellisia said, not understanding the intent of Mrs. Turner.  
  
"So he may find his father," Abigail said bluntly.  
  
The maids face went pale, her eyes dropping to the floor. The fact that Abigail did not know the fate of Bootstrap was killing Ellisia, and was making her nervous. She could not take the boy away from her, not to go on a journey, only to wind up in vain, or worse, death.  
  
"Promise me, Ellisia," Abigail said straining, her voice almost inaudible.  
  
The maid stared at the floor, not speaking.  
  
"Promise me!" The sickly woman cried out to her. She was pleading, desperate for an answer from her friend.  
  
Ellisia did not want to make a promise she did not want to keep, but she had no choice.  
  
"I will see that it's done," The maid said sharply and quick, so she could not have the time to change her mind.  
  
Abigail smiled and gazed at the pillows around her.  
  
"Good, good, then my duties here are finished." Abigail rested her head on one of the pillows and closed her eyes. In a softer than normal voice, the woman said to the maid,  
  
"Go now. You have no need to stay here with the soon to be departed."  
  
Ellisia, now on the verge of tears, walked out of the room and sank into the floor in the hallway. Placing her face in her hands, she wept, every tear dropping to the ground.  
  
Around 8:27, Ellisia went to check on Abigail. The silence in the room was haunting and chilling to the bone. Ellisia walked to the edge of the bed and leaned closer to hear the sound of the Mistress sleeping. But there was no sound to be heard, no faint breathing in and out, nothing at all to suggest the appearance of life. The maid couldn't find herself in the dark of that moment. It had happened.  
  
She was gone, dead, passed on. The shape lying in the enormous bed was limp and paler than ever. Her eyes passing over the body, the maid sighed and said a silent prayer to her departed Mistress.  
  
Gathering up the muster within herself, she awoke young Will to tell him the news. The boy seemed sadder than shocked, and more disappointed than anguished. He lay in her arms that night, crying softly upon her evening dress, Catherine on her other side.  
  
`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~``~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~``~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~``~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~` `~`~`~`  
  
Three days later, after the funeral, Ellisia meet with Captain Rodderick. The tall, stout, jovial man with a beard of white and a decked out wardrobe shook the hand of Ellisia's and kissed the hand of young Catherine. He was gruff as a pirate, but as charming as a Navy Commodore.  
  
"I'm terribly sorry about the passing of Madam Turner," Rodderick said firmly.  
  
"Not necessary," The maid said kindly, her glance turning to Will.  
  
"Abigail said something about sending her boy with me, but," he paused, scanning the area to see if anyone was looking. "I'm not sure that she was in the, how shall I say it, right state of mind, eh?"  
  
"I understand your concern, but I made a promise, and I intend to keep it!" Ellisia said confidently, taking Will's hand.  
  
"If that's what you believe, my lady," Rodderick sighed, placing a large hand on Will's shoulder. "Then that's what we'll hold up to." Will gazed up and smiled at the captain, warmth spreading through him.  
  
"Thank you, Captain Rodderick," The maid said, sighing in relief that he was going to follow through.  
  
The captain turned to tell something to his crew. Will edged towards the ledge of the dock, gazing into the water curiously, Catherine staring behind him. The breeze was a fine relief on that rather sunny and warm day. Ellisia stared out onto the ocean, wondering if it was all worth it, the whole voyage and all. The setting Sun gave no answer.  
  
"You're welcome aboard too, Miss Collins!" Rodderick said merrily, stretching out his arm.  
  
"Oh no!" Ellisia blushed. "I couldn't. Really, I cannot. I have other business to attend to."  
  
"If that is what you must do, then I will not argue." Having said that, Captain Rodderick tipped her his hat and turned towards his ship, the large merchant vessel floating in the dock.  
  
Suddenly there was a large splashing noise and the shout of a little girl. Ellisia turned to stare at her daughter, who was pointing at the water below the dock. Rushing over to her, she saw young Will crawl out of the water.  
  
"What are you doing?" Ellisia said, grabbing onto his clothes to lift him up.  
  
"Dropped my medallion in the water!" Will sputtered, his face and clothes soaked.  
  
"Then there was a ripple in the water!" Catherine chimed in, the excitement of it all being over whelming. Ellisia sighed heavily, not even considering the strange things the two were telling her.  
  
*Ripple in the water indeed! * Ellisia thought humorously.  
  
"Get on that boat, boy!" With that she pushed him onto the ship's loading ladder, not wanting to give the young man time to change his mind.  
  
"Goodbye, Miss Collins!" Will said climbing aboard the ship, his hair flying against the wind.  
  
"One more thing, boy!" Ellisia called out to him as he cleared the ladder.  
  
Will sharply turned to look at her.  
  
"Come back some day, ya here?" She called in a flustered, yet motherly tone.  
  
"Aye! I promise!" Will joyfully called back as the ship left dock and sailed into the early evening sea.  
  
Ellisia and Catherine stared as the ship grew smaller and smaller in the distance, both carrying a sense he would return, but neither knowing when.  
  
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HOW WAS IT??!?!?! PLEEZ SEND IN your reviews!!!! Well, as they say, the rest is HISTORY!!! NOW for the PREQUEL!!!!! (2005 is SOOO far away!) YAY!  
  
~Romania Black~ *_* 


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